Pleural Mesothelioma
Pleural Mesothelioma - affects the chest and lung
This is the most common type of mesothelioma. About 75 percent of all mesothelioma cases are pleural. This is where the cancer affects the lungs and the protective lining and cavity of the lungs. This particular form of mesothelioma can spread to numerous organs in the body – even the brain - and tends to do so more frequently than not.
The pleura is a sac which consists of the lungs and a thin membrane called the mesothelium which emit a fluid that allows the lungs to contract and spread while we are breathing. When asbestos particles are inhaled, the fibers inside the lungs are enlarged, and because these fibers have sharpness and microscopic size, the fibers could possibly go through the walls of the lung, entering the pleural cavity. As they move from the lung into the pleural cavity, the sharp strands shred and injure the mesothelium, damaging it and can cause cancer.
When asbestos fibers occupy the pleural cavity, cancerous tumors may enlarge which thicken the pleural fluid and restrain free lung movement. Over a long period of time, usually two or three decades, asbestos fibers cause changes in the pleural cells, which can result in scarring of the lungs, and finally the development of tumors. Tumors are able to tighten the lungs and compress on the ribcage or other organs causing agonizing pain.
When pleural cells turn into cancerous, they are no longer controlled by the mechanisms that regulate division of normal healthy cells. They begin to divide continuously, and this causes thickening of pleural membranes. As a result, lung capacity is decreased, and fluid starts to build up between pleural layers.
Since the lungs are responsible for re-oxygenating blood, if the cancer spread directly into the lungs, the cancerous cells possibly can spread into other parts of the organ through the bloodstream.
Doctors as well as scientists still do not have any idea why asbestos fibers are capable to bring the mesothelium to transform into cancer. However, as more asbestos cases are informed, doctors and scientists are discovering more and more about this ravaging condition. It is believed that even a single fiber can initiate the cascade of events that cause mesothelioma.
Since the time it takes for the asbestos particle to turn cancerous is very great - approximately between 20 to 30 years (sometimes longer) - it is not an easy job to spot, making it impossible for people to become conscious that they have been affected until it is too late.
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